Carpe
MayhemForget
"seize the day." These foreign fish are slowly but surely
trying to seize the Great Lakes.

As exotic species
go, the Asian Carp is threatening to do to Lake Michigan what zebra
mussels have been doing to the country's waterways for a decade
now: move in, take over, and wreak havoc. And everyone, from commercial
fishermen to recreational boaters, is fighting to keep them out.

The big, ugly fish,
known for their nervous habit of jumping out of the water when boats
approach, were accidentally released into the southern Mississippi River
about ten years ago, according to the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission
(GLFC). Since then they have spread upstream like a virus, devouring
resources and destabilizing local food chains. At presstime the large
colony of unruly swimmers were only 40 miles from Lake Michigan, according
to the GLFC.

Asian Carp, which
can grow to four feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds, are a significant
threat because of their size, fecundity, and ability to drive competing
species out of their established habitats. "I haven't seen
this kind of fear in the people who fish the Great Lakes in a long time,"
says Marc Gaden, communications officer of the GLFC.

Experts say if the
fish, dubbed the underwater lawn mower, enters the Great Lakes, it would
likely become a dominant species and displace many others, including
the yellow perch and walleye bass.

How do you stop them?
Federal officials have installed an electric barrier at the Chicago
Sanitary and Ship Canal, which connects the Illinois River to Lake Michigan.
The barrier emits underwater signals that make the fish feel uncomfortable
if they get too close. Of course, the barrier rattles all species of
fish--native and foreign--but scientists say it won't
pose negative side effects. Since the canal is man-made, no natural
spawning migrations occur there anyway. The Environmental Protection
Agency says boaters can also help keep the Asian Carp, as well as other
dangerous foreign species, out of the Great Lakes by making sure they
don't bring them in accidentally, either as bait or as unintended
stowaways.

Though the threat
of the colony looms, the measures taken have worked so far. A few Asian
Carp have been caught in Lake Michigan, but no large groups have been
detected yet.

Things We LikeMODEL OF PERFECTION:
Sometimes PMY editors focus so much on testing real boats that
we forget about another kind of expert craftsmanship. This model of
the Rybovich 42 embodies all the elegance and excitement promised by
its full-size sibling. When we saw it at the 2002 Fort Lauderdale International
Boat Show, we were amazed by its detail. This brilliant piece of work
not only shows off the sleek lines of the renowned builder, it also
gives new life to the old ship-in-a-bottle hobby. Scale Reproductions
Phone: (251) 928-3829. www.2scale.com.

135.5
Total years of professional marine experience for the eight-member crew
of the 196-foot megayacht New Horizon L.